As CEE economies and commercial real estate markets grow in size, they also grow in scope to include new sectors. Student accommodation has been one of the most successful of the new options for investors and developers in Western Europe to consider over the past ten years. The same may happen in the CEE region over the next decade, according to the third annual Colliers-CMS joint CEE Real Estate Compass report which is themed on student housing.

DBK, a Czech retail specialist, has acquired a majority share in Europark – Štěrboholy, a shopping centre in Prague 10 from Austrian developer, SES Spar European Centers.

The modern retail stock in Bucharest remained stable in 2018, at 1.2 million square meters, a level which is 7% higher than in the Central-West region of the country which reached 1.18 million square meters, and twice the corresponding value of the Moldova region which reached 595,000 square meters, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Anna Bartoszewicz-Wnuk, Anna Młyniec, Agata Sekuła and Savvas Savva have been appointed Members of the Management Board of JLL in Poland. All four of them join Tomasz Trzósło (Managing Director & President of the Management Board), Małgorzata Żółtowska and Kazimierz Kirejczyk (Vice-Presidents) to strengthen JLL's position on the real estate market in Poland.

M7 Real Estate announced that, on behalf of M7 Polish Active Fund (M7 POLAF), it has acquired three multi-let office assets in Poland in separate transactions for a total of €45 million which will form the first tranche of capital deployed for the Fund.

The Romanian office market started promising in 2019, given that in the first quarter, approximately 124,500 square meters were leased nationwide, almost 41% more than in the first quarter of last year.

Generali Real Estate, on behalf of Generali Europe Investments Holding (GEIH) Fund, has acquired Piękna 2.0, a landmark office building in Warsaw, from an investment fund advised by Griffin Real Estate.

The Polish real estate market has been on a strong growth path for more than a decade. Its office sector is in good health, evidenced by a high number of new office completions and building permits, rising transaction volumes and the growing capital values of office buildings. On the other hand, the ever-stronger competition is forcing real estate owners to further improve sales processes. Against this backdrop, professional marketing services are becoming critical in effective real estate commercialisation, according to Małgorzata Frąckiewicz, Property Marketing Manager, Office Agency at Cushman & Wakefield.

JLL has been chosen by the White Stone group to manage two office buildings on Cybernetyki St. in Warsaw. Since taking over the management of Cybernetyki 7 and 7a St., JLL is now responsible for a wide range of services in the management of the properties, which includes maintaining relationships with tenants as well as supervising technical, operational and administrative issues. The company began managing the two office buildings shortly after they were bought by the White Stone group.

The valuation department of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has evaluated over 700 properties with a cumulative value of €4 billion in 2018, while estimating an increase of 25% of the valuation volume, potentially reaching the €5 billion threshold during the year.